Random tale of sizing journey

I've never really posted much on this forum but am a fan of the site and owe a lot to both the articles and the regular posters here.

I thought I'd share this:-

About 5-years ago I realised that I dressed terribly but also that it was in my hands to do something about it. I'm 5'11'', 11.5 stone, 30 inch waist and a 36 inch chest and now generally wear skinny/fitted clothing.

It took me a long time (and ££s wasted) to actually get to the point where I'm now wearing clothes that fit. I actually used to wear 36" boot cut jeans!!!!! I then graduated to size 34 and 32" waist in straight cuts. I then spent a year or two in All saints "Iggys" in size 32" before shifting to size 30" and now generally wear the "Cigarettes".

Looking back, I cannot believe how badly my clothing must have fitted.
All I can say is why didn't anyone tell me or put me out of my misery at the time...

Anyone else had any evolutionary/revolutionary tales form their fashion-past.

Think a lot of people have embarrassing fashion pasts. A year ago I owned only one pair of shoes (black formal) and two pairs of trainers (both hideous) I wore everywhere. I also had two pairs of jeans I rotated depending on which one needed a wash. To go with that I had four polo shirts, two casual shirts and two smart casual shirts. I had two v-neck jumpers and one coat. Since then I've spend £4-5k starting a wardrobe from scratch thanks to this info on this site, these forums and stuff I've seen in GQ, Esquire etc.... Now when I put on a pair of jeans I used to wear (now used when desperate for dog walking clothes) I wonder how I thought they were a good fit/style. I feel embarrassed about the way I dressed but have been fortunate to move to a new office during this period so colleagues assumed I was just a relatively stylish guy rather than someone going through a late 20s/early 30s crisis I'd now hate to think how much stuff I own and am probably a little addicted to menswear. The only areas I'm now weak are tailoring and formal wear. I could do with probably developing my summer wardrobe a little as last year I bought quickly to get through the season rather than being able to plan styles like I now can thanks to having nearly all of the basics covered.

Been on exactly the same journey. About a year ago realised i was getting far to old (27) to be dressing so scruffy and taking such little care over my appearance. Pritty much just wore terribly fitted jeans, a hoody and timberland boots. This last year has just been spent having a complete overhaul of my wardrobe and selling almost the lot of it on eBay and starting from scratch, slowing starting to find what fits and how to dress better.
Wasted a hell of alot of money in the process of trying to build a new wardrobe and find clothes that fit though!!. Online shopping can be a real nightmare for find the right fit and clothes that you like. Still learning and slowing starting to piece together a wardrobe that i like. Also starting taking alot of stuff to the tailors, especially trousers as i pretty much gave up on finding a good fit off the rack. Something i'm starting to realise is creating a style and building a wardrobe your really happy with and clothes that fit takes a long time a requires a lot of patience (especially if you dont want to end up wasting alot of money)

I feel embarrassed about the way I dressed but have been fortunate to move to a new office during this period so colleagues assumed I was just a relatively stylish guy rather than someone going through a late 20s/early 30s crisis

Very true - a relocation can be a blessing!

Great to read these comments. As long as the destination is worth it then time/effort/cost gets forgotten...

Most difficult thing for me is that I live in an rural area of Australia, I have an odd body shape which makes ordering clothes from the internet guesswork and expensive when I have to send things back.

Similar story for me too, I imagine a lot of people have been on this journey since discovering FB.

I've pretty much replaced my whole wardrobe since the start of the year, also managed to shift 90% of my old stuff on eBay. It's been a fairly expensive journey, my budget isn't as big as maybe some of the users on here, though due to some troubles at home my social life suffered for a while which allowed the fashion budget to stretch!

I had always thought I dressed OK but looking back I really didn't! I think people in the area I come from don't dress particularly well so I'm blaming this for my past errors

I've concentrated on getting good fitting classic items with the majority of stuff coming from Uniqlo, ASOS, Reiss & eBay. I've kept a close eye on the Deals & Steals thread along the way, picking up some real bargains, the American Apparel T shirts in particular.

I'm pretty much there now with all the staple items I wanted and I'll admit I'm a bit sad not to be coming home to parcels most evenings! (I've had to buy online mostly, shops are crap round here). Looking forward now to saving for some really quality items and adding a bit more to the Summer wardrobe, which I've made a good start on already.

If anyone new to FB is considering an overhaul I would simply say, do it! Just make sure you do some research first and scan the forums thoroughly, I'm sure we've all made mistakes along the way (thank God for free returns and eBay).